Windshield Cracked on me today... OOOPS

[lordstanley13]

I was doing a repair for a lease turn in today... Temps were about 17 degrees and about -9 with windchill.... The job was in his employers parking structure and I left the car running at least 20 min with the heat on floor till the car warmed up nice. Took the temp of the glass before starting repair and it read 50.1 degrees.

Starbreak filled great except for the bottom tip. I applied a little presure with probe for the end of the crack to fill. Filled in fast and easy... Well, not so easy!!!!!! The minute I lifted the probe off glass and reached down for flashlight to check for any other minor cracks, I heard a pop.

Low and behold.... I looked up and the guys windshield cracked out all the way down above his wipers, all across to the passenger side and the top of the star break popped to the top tint and across past his rearview mirror.

Needless to say, that repair ended right then and there. Luckily the customer was courteous. He even cracked a joke (No Pun Intended) That if that was the worse thing that ever happened to him in his life, then he was leading a very awesome life!!!!!! Except for him having a 1,000 deductable.

I got a quote for him from my friend that owns a replacement shop and he said he would put a new one in for 160.00.

Long story short.... I got pretty lucky to have a customer brush it off like a grain of salt.

Has anyone ever had that happen, and has the customer ever gone APE BANANAS????? What were your steps in making it right for them???? I have a feeling that this has been the first time it has ever happened to me, but it might not be the last...

ANy input????

[StarQuest]

What year and make of vehicle?

Where was damage located?

Did you pull your temps on shield from both inside and outside?

[lordstanley13]

Yes the temp inside at the time was 50.1 the outside glass temp was hovering around 42.9

It was a 2006 Chevy Trailblazer

the starbreak was located on the drivers side to the right of the viewing area. about 2 feet from the top.

[StarQuest]

Use any heat (drystar, lighter or torch) while repairing?

[lordstanley13]

Nope, not at all, just used the heat from the car to warm it gradually and naturally....

Like I said, the break filled great... Just the tip of the lower crack. I flexed, and watched the resin rush in within seconds... Released pressure, leaned down to my tool box to grab flashlight and hear a pop... Looked up and seen the longest sideways "U" crack....

Like I said, luckily the client was not angry. At least he didnt show it, and gave me no problems what so ever.

[screenman]

Was injector pressure OK. You used no heat so we assume you did not dry out, just warming the screen would not have got rid of any moisture in the damage. unlike air water will not compress so I would suggest maybe to much injector pressure along with too uch head pressure caused this effect. In 20 years of screen repair I have had cracks run maybe a couple of inches but never that far. It is always difficult for us to be certain what caused the problem without being there, so please excuse me if you did every thing correctly.

[lordstanley13]

Well it could of been too much head pressure. You might be right on that. But I was actually wondering if this happened to anyone, did you ever have a customer that was angry and what did you do to solve the problem?

Like I said, I was lucky that the customer took it with a grain of salt.

[screenman]

A while back somebody a lot cleverer than me posted a saying that went something like this.

Never sell a repair to a stranger make them a friend first.

I would suggest the because of your people skills this customer did not rise up and ask you to pay. I have not found it necessary to pay for a screen yet and I hope I will not ever have to. I think the rest of this has been talked about many times, as to the effics of to pay or not to pay. Now that last bit reminds me of Shakespeare.

[lordstanley13]

Well, when I told him 160.00 for replacement, he said that was alot better than 1,000 deductible... But then he threw in the comment like: " Well I (HE) didn't crack it.) I merely stated to him that it was cracked and I was trying to fix and save something that was already broke.

[harrellbenjamin]

Way to stand your ground.You did the right thing .